She has been looking for a husband to defend her clan, “but her search has been hampered by burning fantasies of the midnight rescuer whose smoldering blue eyes and raw sensuality left her breathless.” Ay, it’s Alex MacLeod who has set her libido spinning.

Lawyer-turned-romance-writer, wife of a former Major League Baseball player and mom, Monica McCarty of Piedmont has turned her early passion for reading romance novels into a profession, melding history, intrigue and romance into a trilogy of mass-market paperbacks set in 17th century Scotland.

Her first book, “Highlander Untamed” was released in late July, followed by “Highlander Unmasked” in late August. All published by Ballantine, “Highlander Unchained” was released on Sept. 25. The books are on USA Today’s best-seller list. Meanwhile, the 39-year-old author is frantically finishing the first book of another trilogy that picks up where the last one left off.

With a son, 10, and a daughter, 8, McCarty crams in writing while the kids are in school, even working on a funky, portable word processor while she is sitting at their after-school activities.

She is not apologetic about writing of lovers falling into each other’s arms against all odds, R-rated paperbacks that make lonely hearts patter.

“There is a certain bias against romance novels. People . . . denigrate (the genre), but the compelling issue is love and a happy ending,” she said. “You want to keep people turning the pages, with lots of conflict and lots of story.

“The books are not for everyone. The audience is mostly stay-at-home moms who want to read about new love.

“Attitudes have changed the past 20 or 30 years over the romance heroine. ‘Too stupid to live’ heroines are out.

“Mine are not erotic, romance novels, but there is a level of sexuality.”

The books sell, no question.

According to http://www.romancewritersofamerica.org, 40 percent of all fiction is romance, and 55 percent of mass market paperbacks are romance. Signed copies of McCarty’s first two novels are available at the Book Tree in Montclair Village and other retail outlets.

McCarty started out as a lawyer, having studied at Stanford Law School, then practicing in both California and Minnesota, following her husband’s baseball career. Dave McCarty was an all-American first baseman for Stanford, drafted by the Minnesota Twins. The two met in McCarty’s second year of law school and married. In his 15-year career, Dave McCarty also played for both the San Francisco Giants and the Oakland A’s, as well as other teams, ending his career with the historic Red Sox World Series win in 2004.

These days, Dave McCarty works in real estate and is a part-time announcer for Red Sox pre- and post games for the New England Sports Network. He is also an honest critic of his wife’s work, being the first reader of her drafts and pointing out grammatical errors with a red pen.

“It’s a little joke between us, the red pen,” McCarty says. “Dave is very supportive.

“At 6-foot-5 and 230 pounds, he is comfortable in his skin. He even goes to ‘chick flicks’ with me.”

McCarty said it’s not unusual for lawyers to become authors.

“We love researching and writing,” she said.

She fell in love with Scotland, its history and lore, when she took a comparative legal history class and wrote a paper on the Scottish clan system. She has visited the Isle of Skye and Scotland several times.

Her first “Highlander” novel took the longest to write – about five years ago, she said. The others followed more quickly.

In reviews on Amazon.com, readers note that the stories are filled with historical facts, and that Lady Meg “is a protagonist most contemporary women can identify with.”

The author, who grew up in Piedmont and returned there, admits one secret.

(Click here if you are unable to view this photo gallery on your mobile device) The Ruth Bancroft Garden in Walnut Creek celebrates the life of its founder Ruth Bancroft who died at 109 on November 26, 2017. The Ruth Bancroft Garden is a nonprofit public dry garden that was planted by Mrs. Ruth Bancroft in 1972 and was opened to the...